


A little backstory on Billy

by Brenlie



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Diabetes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:06:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28848024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brenlie/pseuds/Brenlie





	A little backstory on Billy

• He was diagnosed before his mom left. Maybe it was the exhaustion of taking care of a sick kid. Maybe it was watching her husband, who was supposed to love and take care of them, treat them like trash. Maybe she was just a terrible human being.  
• After she left, Billy lived with his grandparents for a while. Got the hang of shots and carb counting down. He would have an alarm set at 2 and 6 am making sure he wasn’t low or too high. Enjoyed the beach and friends and ignored all thoughts of the future.  
• His dad came back in October. The weather was perfect. He showed up with a wife and a sister. Neilleft no choice for Billy. He was coming. They moved to a modest home to far from the beach to bike to and away from all his friends.   
• His dad didn’t understand type 1. Billy’s grandma had specific instructions and would call to make sure insulin, syringes and test strips scripts were filled. Beyond that her help wasn’t welcomed. There were options that Billy could have had but pumps and CGM’s were out of the question. Insulin cost enough without any special gadgets that could help keep him healthy.   
• Billy coasted through middle school. Everyone in town knew about his dad. Mostly his goal was to hide the bruises and stay away from home as much as possible. Max was 10 when his dad learned that keeping insulin away as a punishment worked a lot better than smacking him around.  
• One night, right before the move to Indiana they had a particularly bad argument. Both bruises on his face and HIGH on Billy’s meter showed up. He misses three days of school. By day two he was miserable and willing to grovel. Exactly what Neil wanted. Neil held out another 12 hours and then he threw Billy the insulin vial. Told Billy “stay in line”.  
• Billy learned to ration after that. Eat less carbs to use less insulin and within a few months he had one extra vial he could hide in the back of the fridge. He kept syringes in an old cigar case in his closet. The higher he ran the grumpier he was. That was how he arrived in Hawkins. But Billy had talent. Basketball came easy, acting the bad boy image in a tiny town was even easier. His two goals that first day was to find the king...and dethrone him.


End file.
